Summer's Here. Make the most of it ... garden, laze, chill, grill, gather, and dine ... in style

COLOR

When traveling north on Telegraph Road through Bloomfield Hills and up to Pontiac, there's no shortage of destinations for gardeners and farmers' market enthusiasts. This section of metro Detroit is quickly becoming a veritable green corridor. "We all try to offer something different," Joe Nieradka says of the businesses in the area, "but what we do complements one another," adds the co-owner of Fleurdetroit. He and co-owner Phillip Morici offer distinctive landscape design and fine garden management through Fleurdetroit's parent company, Urbanscapes Detroit. Fleurdetroit focuses on floral styling, while also offering a space for shopping for objects for home and garden. Another great stop within this region that is recognized for its special identity is AguaFina Gardens International, just a few minutes west of Fleurdetroit. Offering complete landscape design and installation, this destination specializes in stone-setting and water features, and designs landscapes worldwide, says owner Daryl Toby. East of AguaFina, on Orchard Lake Road, you'll find Goldner Walsh Nursery and Telly's Greenhouse, with extensive collections of plants that will fit many needs and styles. Nearby is Detroit Garden Works, a one-stop shop for fine garden containers, furnishings, and adornment. Rounding out the corridor is the Oakland County Farmers' Market in Waterford Township. Insiders recommend starting there and then heading to Ellen's Bakery & Café in Sylvan Lake to fuel up for a day of exploration. — Jamie Patrona

GRILLING

Cooking with Fire Becomes Easier

The Architectural Digest Home Design Show featured Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet's Gaucho Grill. Making Argentinian-style outdoor cooking easier, it has a gas-powered starter burner to light a wood or charcoal fire. Its cooking-surface cradle houses a rotisserie and has grill grates that are cut for meat, fish, or vegetables. A 36-inch wheel raises and lowers the cooking-surface cradle. "We see a perfectly good grill style and we're compelled to make changes to it," says Outdoor Gourmet's Russ Faulk, left, vice president of design. Hand-built, the grill comes in two freestanding models and a built-in version. kalamazoogourmet.com.

FURNITURE

Envelop yourself in casual luxury

McGuire introduces 12 new living and dining designs and five new matte finishes — created by Barbara Barry, Bill Sofield, and McGuire Designs — that embody comfortable, casual luxury and use a variety of natural materials ranging from rattan, rawhide, and single caning to Danish Cord, walnut, and woven resin. In addition, there are five new low-sheen finishes ranging from dark brown to the lightest of tan, designed to highlight the more casual side of rattan and rawhide. One favorite is the sofa on page 19, made of woven resin and powder-coated aluminum. The Tansen lounge chair, left, is a blank slate with endless possibilities in many spaces, say McGuire representatives. Baker Showroom, Michigan Design Center, michigandesign.com.

OUTDOORS

Haute Hangout

Mackenzie-Childs' creative director, Rebecca Proctor, stopped in at Neiman Marcus in Troy recently to talk about everything from new garden-style offerings to outdoor entertaining. She's excited about MacKenzie-Childs' Courtly Check hammock and its beautiful Indian rosewood frame. Measuring 54 inches wide and 78 inches long (bed of hammock), it just may make your yard the most popular room in the house! Neiman Marcus, Somerset Collection, Troy.

RUGS

She's Thoroughly Modern, with Plenty of French Deco Overtones

Designer Allison Paladino makes a summery splash
Inspired by her love of modernism, Allison Paladino's new collections are produced and distributed by luminaries such as furniture maker E.J. Victor. Her new rug palette, created with New River Artisans, is "serene, quiet, and beautifully elegant," she notes. Paladino shared stylish insights recently at Scott Shuptrine. She has plenty of surprises in store. Scott Shuptrine Interiors, Royal Oak.

ECO ACCENTS

Pillows with the Write Stuff

Originally from the fashion world, Alexandra Ferguson brings her chic apparel sensibility to interior design with her felt applique pillows (handmade in the U.S.A. of 100-percent recycled material). Each brings a smile, with sassy phrases and coordinating color combos. In her own industrial-chic-style home, Ferguson keeps her Relax, You're Home Now pillow on the couch to help her "decompress from my busy days working on the brand," she says. Hillside Furniture, Bloomfield Hills.